Two individuals from Aklan and Iloilo and a youth group from Guimaras will vie for the National Award for Kabataang Agribiz Competitive Grant Assistance Program or the Young Farmers Challenge Fund of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
They obtained favorable assessments during the Business Model Canvas (BMC) Regional Pitching held on Nov. 24 to 26 at MO2 Westown Hotel, Iloilo City.
“Expansion of Ripples Ice Cream Made of Carabao’s Milk” by Eleazar O. Carmen of Badiangan, Iloilo; “Promise Life Integrated Farm” of Jayson C. Merin of New Washington, Aklan; and “Mycophile” Project of Christel John Gallego, Maribel Sesduero, Dalyn Pillada, Loda Tanato, and Ralf Pillada of San Lorenzo, Guimaras top notched the regional screening.
Twenty-seven agri-enterprises were presented, pitched, and deliberated based on entrepreneurial attributes, innovativeness, revenue stream, and value addition. The regional winning enterprises will receive ₱150,000.00 each to support the project expansion and sustainability. They will get the chance to win additional ₱300,000.00 fund for their agribiz pursuits if they will be selected as part of the six national winners.
As a packaging engineering graduate, Carmen opened his ice cream dairy business in October 2020 when he decided not to return to a corporate job in Metro Manila due to pandemic restrictions. His attempt to help local farmers reach a broader market for carabao dairy milk pushed him to seek technical assistance from the Philippine Carabao Center in Calinog.
The P50,000.00 provincial award he received were utilized to construct the ice cream processing room in Brgy. Agusipan.
On the other hand, Merin converted his family’s rice lands to grow cabbage as the demand for the vegetables in the province of Aklan increases with the recovering tourism industry in Boracay Island. “Nagpapasalamat ako sa financial grant na aking natanggap mula sa DA at nasimulan ko na ang aking proyektong Integrated Crop Management for Vegetable Production at sa ngayon may kabuuang sales na ₱176,000.00.”
The five-person team, Mycophile in Guimaras, started their venture with a ₱250,000.00 financial grant from DA. Mycophile now supplies fresh and value-added mushroom products like burgers, tocino, siomai, and atchara to neighboring customers and two institutional buyers.
“We all know that the average age of our farmers now is 57 years, and we at the DA are inviting the younger generation to engage in agriculture. As you observed during the pandemic, only the agriculture sector has recorded a positive growth trend. That is why the government is now pouring big funds to support the agriculture sector,” said DA Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division Maria Teresa T. Solis.
The Kabataang Agribiz is said to be part of the OneDA Reform Agenda in transforming the Philippines’ agri-fishery sectors by engaging the youth in agriculture and agribusiness. The program is likewise geared at addressing the problems on the dwindling number of farm workers and aging population of food producers. (SMHToreno/DA-RAFIS-6)
